Thomas E. Crew

Number 108: Texas A&M University Military History Series

Dedicated to all of the U.S. combat veterans whose stories remain untold

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Text Box: Updated: March 10, 2007 Text Box: "So men take heed, this trusty craft on which we rest our humble carcasses is not a cargo carrier but a fighting ship as well.  So with all due credit I think that she, a ship among ships, has earned her campaign stars."               Rupert E. Lyon, Wartime Commanding Officer USS Tate   Text Box: "I guess it doesn't make any difference, once a man has gone.  Medals and speeches and victories are nothing to them any more.  They died and others lived and nobody knows why it is so.  They died and thereby the rest of us go on and on."                                                                      Ernie Pyle Text Box: On board the USS Tate with forty-eight stars, thirteen stripes, five sailors and one purpose. Text Box: USS Tate (AKA-70) Text Box:      We all have a debt to the past.  Our memories form the very essence of who we are and without them, we would have no identity.  Many of these memories are carried through time as part of our collective American experience.  They can be stirred to life by any number of events: such as hearing our National Anthem, seeing the pride and dignity with which our armed forces carry themselves, or from studying our nation’s military history.  On the eve of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln spoke of "the mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land."  Lincoln was appealing to the American identity to listen to the "better angels of our nature," and avoid war. Yet, historical consciousness could not overcome the political issues of the day and the ensuing tragedy still casts its dark shadow across time.  There are many ways in which we can repay our debt to the past and infuse ourselves with the historical awareness that Lincoln foresaw as so valuable.  For me it was paid in part by  interviewing over fifty of our rapidly vanishing World War II veterans and then writing Combat Loaded.  While this book tells their stories, it was also written to represent a whole class of amphibious warriors who have been largely ignored by historians.  Put simply, the goal was to tell an untold story through a chorus of original voices.  After five years of research, writing, and plundering the National Archives, the resulting work contains a number of interesting embedded stories:        Ø    The cradle to grave story of a WW II attack cargo ship.                   Ø  The mobilization and training of largely civilian crew. Ø  A detailed technical description of amphibious operations from both an individual ship and transport squadron perspective. Ø  A complete reconstruction and analysis (with tactical maps) of a large kamikaze attack on a lightly screened troop laden transport squadron off Okinawa. Ø  A comprehensive description of the seizure of the Kerama Retto island group (with tactical maps) as the first stage in the largest operation of the Pacific War: the battle for Okinawa. Ø  A detailed account of the battle for Ie Shima (with tactical maps), one of the last invasions of the war, representing the end-state of one of WW II’s hallmarks--joint amphibious operations. Ø  The inclusion of the story of the troops of the 77th Infantry Division fighting ashore and the operations to keep them supplied with combat cargo provides an understanding of the vital role of combat logistics in amphibious warfare.  Ø  The origin and impact of specialized oceanographic and hydrographic units in amphibious operations. Ø  A detailed description of the last days of Ernie Pyle told in greater depth than previously published accounts using significant new material. Ø  Post-war transport of over 600,000 Chinese troops to counter Communist intentions in Manchuria. Ø  The harrowing story of riding out a massive typhoon at sea. Ø  The lasting emotional impact of war.              

 

 

Text Box: Air attack at dusk on the transport area

Text Box: Kamikaze damage to Henrico (APA-45)